Chapter 37
Primal Scream: Can't Go Back
I'm not really sure what to do or say, except sort of gawp at the spot where the VI briefly appeared. I mean, in an audio message from a Prothean VI…my day just got flipped kinda upside down. A Prothean Cipher all this time? I…
Should have seen that coming. Now I think about it, this actually makes a lot of sense. It would explain why Shiala wasn't able to give me her Cipher on Feros, and how I can vaguely understand the visions I've been getting all this time. But, seeing as they started when I came into this universe, there's only one person who could've given it to me.
And to think I was worried about Shiara being pissed off at me.
"So, erm…where did you get that?" Garrus asks slowly, bringing me out of my trance-like state just staring at where the VI fragment was.
"Bought it off the fucking extranet," I shoot back, a little too tetchily, from Garrus's disapproving frown. "Sorry, sorry. This is just…well, it's kinda big news."
"You don't say," Tali mutters. "The whole knowledge of their race locked in your head…and you didn't even notice?"
I throw my arms up in the air. "How often do I have to listen to someone speaking Prothean? The visions should have been a bloody giveaway, but they're prophetic! I didn't know Protheans had some way of predicting the bloody future!"
"Look, let's all calm down here," Garrus interrupts. Actually, if Garrus of all people is trying to cool a situation down, maybe I'm getting a little too wound up. "Trace it back, Ian. How did it happen?"
"I know fine well," I say, bringing my mood back down to normal levels. Bit of a shock, finding that out…but at least it makes sense. Not like I've been totally blindsided by it. "Shiara must've given it to me in the initial meld that got me here. Dammit, why didn't she tell me?"
"I've got a bigger question," Tali suddenly says. "Where did she get it?" Actually, that's a bloody good point.
"The Thorian?" Garrus suggests. "That's the one source we know of."
I shake my head. "I highly doubt the Thorian just gave that kind of thing out. Far as I know, Saren's the only organic it ever told directly. God knows what it saw in him…but there can't be many places with a Cipher knocking about, can there?"
"Not that I'm aware of," Garrus admits. "There's not much chance of us finding out how she did it, is there?"
"Nope," I frown. "I mean, short of asking her. Which I might do. But I guess it's not really important where she got it…just that I have it. Though all it's doing is giving me headaches, visions I don't really get, and letting me understand Prothean." Maybe Shiara will enlighten me further when I talk to her next…though she was hardly helpful in the hospital after the red sand incident. Something already tells me this is probably going to raise more questions than answers…
"How are you going to ask Shiara?" Tali asks. "I mean, the last time you talked to her was about a year or so ago, you said…"
I smile ruefully, turning for the door out of the security room. I think we're all done here, and we can solve this mystery after we take Saren down. "Believe me, she finds out just about everything. And once she's worked out I've told people the truth, I won't have to worry about finding her. She'll find me. It's probably not going to be the happiest reunion."
"I can imagine," Garrus chuckles. "The asari who brings you here, turns your life upside down, and then doesn't tell you about a Cipher? Can't see you hugging and kissing when you meet up." We jog down the ramp towards the elevator, since as I remember it Shepard was dealing with geth up there when we went down here…
"Oh, I dunno. I could always give her a Glasgow kiss," I grin. Garrus looks confused as we pile into the lift, and Tali's body language suggests she's probably got the same expression he has. Which shouldn't exactly come as too much of a surprise. "That's a headbutt."
Garrus grins, and Tali laughs as we start to ascend.
##############
"Holy crap, Shepard, you're good," I say, awestruck at the carnage laid out before us on the surface. Geth limbs and parts everywhere, some still sparking on the ground, two Primes and one armature folded up next to a rock, and floor singed from rocket launcher explosions.
"Course I am. What do you think I did in N7 training?" the Commander smiles. "Sit around eating and playing video games?"
I raise an eyebrow. "You are suspiciously good at them."
Shepard laughs, then her expression turns serious again. "We heard some noise back from where we came from, so…"
"We opened the security door to follow Saren," Garrus informs her. "Killed some geth Primes as well."
"That's my man," Shepard winks at him. Garrus blushes. As usual. "Alright, back to the Mako, double time!" We set off at a pretty quick run in the direction we came from, but it's actually fairly comfortable. Being a soldier for two months does remarkable things for your fitness, and I wasn't exactly in bad shape while I was at C-Sec, either. I keep pace next to Wrex…who's still clutching his new prized possession.
"Still keeping hold of that rocket launcher, then?" I ask, as Wrex turns his head slightly to look at me. "I'm not sure whether that's a good thing to have in the Mako, though. I mean, if someone accidentally jolts the trigger if we go over a bump or something…"
"Risk worth taking," Wrex grunts. "I've always wanted something like this. Don't know why I didn't buy one before."
"Because they're impractical to just carry around, and you're as likely to kill your allies with it at close to medium range than you are the enemy?"
Wrex glares at me slightly.
"But you're too good to do that, of course…" I mutter. "We have a krogan with a rocket launcher, though. I don't really see what I'm complaining about, now that I think about it."
The krogan in question grins widely. "Knew you'd come around to my way of thinking. If Saren's got any sense, he'll shoot himself before I can get to him with this." He suddenly frowns, shaking his head. "No, rocket's too quick. Draw it out first, maybe tear off one of those stupid mandibles, mount his head on a pike, take it back to Tuchanka…"
"You know, as fun as that sounds, maybe you should keep it to yourself," I quickly interrupt. If something involves taking a turian's head and then taking it to Tuchanka…I don't want to know what comes next. "Don't want to spoil the surprise for me."
"If you're sure," Wrex says, almost sounding a little disappointed, as we head down the final straight towards the Mako. Well, this was a nice respite where I haven't had to shoot something for…ooh, five minutes? I'm fairly sure the Mako trip ought to rectify that problem. Up ahead, Liara and Tali have already leaped in, so I put on an extra burst of speed to catch up, looking into the huge road laid out in front of us.
From here, it gets really damn serious. And to think I'll be jumping through a Mass Relay in a Mako about twenty minutes or so from now.
Well. This ought to be interesting.
##########
"Ow, fuck!" I shout, along with a few grunts of pain from other squad members, as the Mako springs over yet another bump in the road. Goddammit! The Protheans were supposed to be this technologically advanced species, and the Romans built better roads than this shit! "Shepard, are you aiming for the rocks?"
"Just for you, Ian," she shoots back, not even looking around as we manoeuvre down the hill. "Got to do something to make it exciting. I was expecting some kind of geth ambush, but maybe Saren's in too much of a rush to get to the Conduit."
"I, for one, am not complaining," Liara says. "It is nice to be able to look at this place without being shot at. The architecture is…fascinating."
Wrex looks at her like she has two heads, or something. "Fascinating? It's creepy. This whole place puts me on edge."
"A krogan commenting on architecture," Garrus chuckles. "Funny, since your planet is made of…rock, isn't it?"
Sure, Wrex glares at him, but it's a sign of how far their friendship has come that the krogan doesn't just punch him in the face.
"He might have you there, Wrex," I laugh. "Sorry, Liara, I'm not exactly mad about how this place looks either." Liara just nods, then looks away from me. Shit…looks like she's still in a bad mood about yesterday. In a way, silent disapproval is worse than her just shouting at me. It's what I was expecting, anyway.
"Keelah…" Tali suddenly says, sounding awestruck as she points out the windscreen. "What are they? On the walls?"
"They look like containers," Shepard muses. Hell, I know what they are, and if it was just Tali and Garrus in the Mako I'd probably tell them…but oh well. Let the rest guess. We'll find out soon enough, anyway. "I can't say what for, though."
"Maybe stasis pods?" Garrus suggests. Oh, wow, he is good! Got it in one, I think. "The Protheans might have tried to keep themselves alive through cryogenic freezing."
I laugh, though it's a little morbid. "That worked out well for them, seeing as they're extinct now. Hey, what's that, though? Some kind of light, getting clos-"
"SHIT, missile!" Shepard yells, swerving us narrowly out the way. "Ian! Turret! Now!"
I leap to my feet, vaulting up and into the gunners seat. Oh God… "Are you sure this is the best idea? I mean, I just mistook a rocket for a light! That's not good!"
"Just fire!" everyone below shouts. Fine, fine…I line up a rocket, sending it soaring through the air and eliminating the three geth firing on us with one shot. Triple kill, in the bag!
"Garrus!" I shout down, as we keep pushing forward…oh, there's another rocket trooper! I quickly take it down with a burst of machine gun fire, then turn my attention back to the turian. "Are you still keeping count of our kills? You, Wrex and I?"
"Yeah!" he shouts back. "You're on ninety-one from the missions all three of us have been on…I'm on eighty-three and Wrex is on ninety-five! Mako kills don't count, though!" Oh, wow, I could actually win this! Provided Wrex reigns himself in, which is unlikely, considering he now has a rocket launcher. Curses!
No more geth, though, as we progress down yet another hall of those stasis pods…not that there needs to be any, seeing as there's something there far more suited to halting our progress. A fucking forcefield. Admittedly, Vigil needs some way to stop us, but effectively building a wall is a little obnoxious. Plus, there's one behind us.
Kaidan's immediately on edge. "Is this some kind of ambush? Where did Saren get a force-field?"
"I don't think this is Saren," Garrus mutters, though admittedly he knows it's not Saren because I told him and Tali before the mission. "If he wanted to trap us, he could have used this before. And there's a doorway over there." He points towards the glowing arch, leading to the elevator…and Vigil. With his epic revelation for Shepard and the rest of us. Well, the ones who don't already know.
"Looks like we don't have a choice," Shepard says, and I see her frowning as we all get out of the Mako. She'll probably be wildly suspicious of this, and I can't exactly blame her. I mean, I sure as hell was. "Follow me, but keep your weapons ready for any sign of geth." Right she is…I just slide out one pistol, keeping it low in a two handed grip as we walk into the elevator, and Shepard presses the button to descend. I'm not gonna need it, but even so, it feels oddly reassuring to hold.
"So, what do you think we'll find down here, Ian?" Garrus suddenly asks, making eye contact with me, and quickly winking. Come on, Garrus! It's not a joke that I know what's going to happen! Grr…
"Well, mate," I say, glaring at him in as subtle a way as possible, "if a forcefield like that just targeted us now, I'd expect it was something useful."
Wrex chuckles next to me. "You expect? Or you hope?"
"We haven't had many allies in the places we've been, kid," Kaidan says grimly. "I'd be surprised to find someone on our side." Well, prepared to be surprised, Alenko…
"Actually, Ian's making quite a lot of sense to me there," Shepard says. "We just happen to stop by this elevator, which could be taking us to our deaths…but Saren could have just flooded the area with geth and then set off the field. I don't know."
"Well, we're about to find out," Tali says, as the elevator finally starts to slow…then suddenly stops, catching me by surprise and making me fall over. Damn it! I knew it was coming too! I stand back up, brushing myself down, while Shepard and the others laugh slightly and we head down the ramp…to where Vigil's waiting.
Well, at least I managed to lighten the mood. Even if it was by making an ass of myself.
"It's that VI we saw back in the security room," Garrus says to Shepard, as we approach.
"You saw a Prothean VI and didn't think that was worth reporting back?"
"Erm…no?"
"I'd like to see what is, then," Shepard chuckles to Garrus, as we finally reach Vigil. Here we go, the startling revelation of the Citadel Relay shall be revealed.
"You. You are not a machine. This eventuality was one of many that was anticipated. This is why we sent our warnings through the beacons," Vigil says, addressing Shepard. Oh, exposition time, here we come…Garrus, Tali and I are standing away from the rest of the crew slightly, so I lower my voice to a whisper as I talk.
"He's going to tell Shepard all about the Citadel relay, what the Conduit does, all that stuff," I explain, taking a quick glance over my shoulder. Good. Nobody's looking. "After this, we're gonna make a break for the Conduit itself, then…"
Garrus rolls his eyes at me. "Do a Mass Relay jump onto the Citadel. I was listening the first time you told us."
"Oh," I say, a little shocked. "That's, uh...good."
"We're ready, Ian," Tali says. "Finally going to finish everything with Saren. Keelah…after all this time, it comes down to the next hour or so."
"If that," I shrug. "I mean, it's mainly just fighting from here on in. A bit of a rest here is surprisingly welcome, actually."
Kaidan suddenly turns around to look at us. "Some of us are trying to listen here, kid," he whispers. Oh yeah. Whoops. Sorry, Kaidan. Man, now I feel like one of those assholes who talk at the theatre…
"Wait, the Reapers could wipe out the entire Council and the Citadel fleet in one attack!" Shepard suddenly says. Loud. Guess Vigil spilled the beans on the Citadel being a trap, then…
"Our leaders were dead before we even realised we were under attack," Vigil explains. For a VI, he sounds…really quite sad. Then again, his personality is based off the Prothean who ran the facility. "The Reapers took control of the Citadel and the Mass Relays. From there, it was only a matter of time until they had full dominance. Each star system was cut off, isolated…then destroyed by the Reaper fleets."
"No-one survived?" Shepard asks. "At all?"
The VI flickers in front of us, showing no emotion, but the voice does a face's job more than well. "They had access to everything. Our information, maps…information is power, and they knew everything about us. Some worlds they destroyed, others enslaved. Within a few centuries, they had killed or enslaved every Prothean in the galaxy." Bloody hell…a few centuries with Reapers around? Even the threat of them in dark space worries the hell out of me, never mind hundreds of years with them actually inhabiting the galaxy.
"You said I was here for a reason," Shepard says firmly. "Tell me what I need to do." Good thing she's not hanging about, since Saren's getting closer to the Conduit as we speak…hell, he's probably through the damn thing by now.
And so Vigil explains. The role of the Conduit in getting through the Citadel as a back-door. How Ilos was a top-secret facility for Mass Relay research, where they created a small scale version of a relay. The role of the stasis pods…and the people who died in them, never waking up from their cryogenic sleep. That the Prothean scientists found a way of altering the Reaper's signal so the Citadel keepers wouldn't open the Relay…and that Sovereign's plan is to use the Conduit to open it manually.
Throughout the conversation, I see the facial expressions of the rest of the crew go through shock, denial, outrage, hope…and finally acceptance as Vigil starts to finish up. If the situation wasn't so serious, it would almost be funny. "Can you help me, then?" Shepard asks, after Vigil is done explaining. "Tell me how to stop Sovereign?"
"There's a data file in my console. Take a copy when you go. When you get to the Citadel's master control unit, upload it to the station," the VI explains. "It will corrupt the Citadel's security protocols and give you temporary control over the station. It might give you a chance against Sovereign." There it is…now we have a plan. Just a matter of seeing if it comes together. I love it when they do.
Shepard quickly glances over at me. "Ian? Any mention of a Citadel control unit when you were at C-Sec?"
"Nope," I reply quickly, taken by surprised by the question and shaking my head. Faintly, though Vigil doesn't have a face, I could swear it's somehow looking at me…then the feeling goes, almost as soon as it came. Huh. Weird.
"Follow Saren through the Conduit," the VI says, and there's a sense of urgency creeping into the voice. "He will show you the way." Alright, time to kick it! Last push to end Saren's plans…
"Wait," Shepard suddenly says. "I have a question. The beacons on Eden Prime, Virmire…and the visions. What are they for?"
"Once the Reapers had left, the survivors here decided to risk sending out a message," Vigil explains. "We knew it was unlikely there were any other survivors. But if there were, we vowed to let them know, to give them hope. So a message was sent across the network of beacons. "We did not think the beacons were still functioning, but we had to try. If there were any survivors, we had to reach them. It was meant for own people…and coded so only organics could understand it." Ah, cunning! Then again, the Protheans managed to make a small scale mass relay…so it should be fairly obvious the people here were intelligent enough to think of something like that. My bad.
Kaidan chuckles humourlessly next to me. "But you weren't expecting someone under Reaper indoctrination."
"No," Vigil admits. "But it has also led you here. Our short-term plan was the altering of the signal to the keepers, and the data board that will grant temporary control. But the Reapers will find another way. So we had a long-term plan too, one that would end the Reaper threat forever." WHOA, hold on a second here! Long-term plan to end the Reapers for ever? I do not remember this shit from the game!
"Wait, another plan?" Shepard says quickly. "What? What do we need to do after we stop Sovereign?"
"The plan is…" Vigil starts to say, then suddenly stops. "Error. This data cannot be found, or has been erased." WHAT? You have got to be shitting me! A real game changer, something to do with a Prothean plan to end the Reapers that I had no idea about before, and he's LOST THE DATA?
We all gawp at it in disbelief. "The data file was designed to delete itself once accessed," Vigil explains. "From what I can glean, it was a desperate gamble. I do not know what it was. But the fact the data has been accessed suggests it may already be underway." No! This is a significant change, and I've got no way of knowing what it means for the future!
Oh my God…Shiara mentioned something about my purpose here being to stop the Reapers. What if this and that are related? What if I'm part of some Prothean plan?
And how would that even work? I'm not fifty thousand years old, last time I checked. I'm probably over-reacting on that part…but now I have a burning curiosity as to discovering what the hell Vigil is talking about. Damn! Nothing I can do about it, though.
"Fuck," Shepard mutters. "Well, we have this for now. Grab that data board, let's get out of here! Saren's got enough of a headstart as it is!"
Shit. And here I was, thinking I already knew everything I needed to know. First I find out about a Prothean Cipher, and now this…it's been a pretty mindblowing day. To say the least.
Time to top it off by travelling approximately half the length of the galaxy in a heartbeat. In a tank.
AWESOME.
"You never mentioned a long-term plan," Tali whispers to me, as we head up in the elevator again. Both of are standing at the far back…and it's a pretty big lift, so no-one's picked up on conversation. Thank Christ.
"That's because there wasn't one," I reply. "This isn't right. This isn't what I know."
"Is this things changing?" Tali asks, sounding worried. "Because of you telling Garrus and I?"
I shake my head. "I don't think it works like that. Telling you might change things that happen in the future, but the Protheans made this plan thousands upon thousands of years ago. I just…I don't like knowing what kind of impact it's going to have. Even if it's supposed to stop the Reapers."
"All we can do is wait and see," Tali says, putting an upbeat tone into her voice to try and cheer me up. Frankly, it works quite well. "It shouldn't change anything with what's happening now, anyway. It's long term. Like Vigil said."
"Guess you're right," I sigh, as the elevator doors open again. "Doesn't mean I can just ignore it, though."
Tali's reply gets cut off by a shout from Shepard for us to hurry up, so we dash over and into the Mako…and I head for the gun, without being prompted. We've got a hell of a drive up ahead. So we're gonna need one hell of a gunner.
##########
God, I still hate the Mako immensely. Especially when there's geth colossi and rockets being shot at us every five seconds, combined with the fact Shepard's in too much of a rush to slow down and let me aim…but we've managed to come through almost unscathed. Though we did almost flip at once, and I think Garrus might have thrown up on the floor because of it. But that seems unlikely.
Besides, my attention's taken up more with the sight in front of us, the enormous Mass Relay pointing into the sky just up ahead. And to think this is supposed to be small-scale…that said, we've still got a long way to go in the Mako to get there, down the massive hill we've now reached outside of the facility. Which has water running down it as well, for some reason.
No time to fucking take in the view, though. If memory serves…
"That thing is going to close real soon!" Shepard shouts. "Everyone, hold onto something, we're going as fast as we can! Ian, make sure we don't get blown up!" Yep, definitely no time to take in the view…
"On it!" I yell, whirling the gun around towards the geth below. I could probably shoot behind us to build momentum…but it's gonna be negligible once we hit the bottom and Shepard needs to take the turns. Focus on killing the geth and not dying.
"Here we go!" someone from below says, as the Mako leaps forward and down the hill. This is it…forty seconds to get through and save the world. And I do not plan on being on the wrong side of the Citadel once that time limit is up.
I let rip with the machine gun straight away as we go down, blitzing one of the colossi with fire straight away as we go down. Gotta wait until I've got a good shot for the rockets, since I can't wait for the cool-down if I miss…shit, it's firing a rocket! Shepard narrowly dodges, opting to jump the Mako over it rather than swerve, and we come crashing down, bouncing me in the seat hard as we do.
Ten seconds gone…but I've got a clear rocket shot now! Which goes straight into the geth colossus's face, or whatever the geth equivalent is. One down…just gotta suppress them until we reach the Conduit! "Ian!" Shepard yells from below. "Get them on the right!"
"There's three, Shepard, I'm trying! I'm trying!" I shout, desperately trying to spread my fire upon all three as we hurtle towards the Conduit. Not far now…fifty or a hundred meters, but it's been about twenty five seconds. Shit, this is gonna be close! Rockets finally back…and yet another one of the colossi goes down to it. We're almost there now…
Then, just as we hit the ramp up to the Conduit, there's a judder as the Mako gets hit by a rocket on the back left wheels…and they slowly start to slide out. No no no! Not when we're this close! I can hear Shepard grunting with effort to twist us back around, but we're slowing too much now for us to stand a chance…
We hit the lip of the ramp side on, then there's a sudden lurch in my stomach as we go into the air, and I feel the Mako rolling through it. Jesus Christ, she fucking jumped the Mako when we hit the top of the ramp! We are literally doing a barrel roll into the Conduit! I can see it in the cannon's view now, five metres until impact, now one…
We suddenly come to a stop…then without warning, the Mako hurtles upwards at an unbelievable speed, g forces pushing me back into the seat. God, I can't breathe…I can feel the skin of my face being pushed back, don't know which way is up…need oxygen…
The last thing I see before I pass out is the faint blue tinge of whatever is carrying us through the turret's camera. Then nothing.
############
The first thing I see upon my eyes opening again is the roof of the Mako, just after the massive impact that wakes me up. Right. Remind me never to travel by Mass Relay ever again. It sucks. I groan as I prop myself up in the gunner's seat, popping the emergency hatch and trying to clamber out. Godammit, my back is killing me…and I'm still struggling to breathe after the Mass Relay trip.
But we're finally here. We made it through the Conduit…and the Battle of the Citadel has already begun. Time for me to make good on my promise to Ash. Time to end this.
Below me, I see Shepard and the rest of the crew crawling out, and a plethora of swear words hit my ears as they do. Admittedly, not the most pleasant landing…I'm gonna have a lot of bruises in the morning, I know that now.
"We sure know how to make an entrance," I shout down to Shepard, as I unsteadily clamber down from the side of the Mako. The Commander turns to look at me, slight gash on her face…but she's smiling as she turns.
"That we do," Shepard chuckles. "We're all in one piece?" I take a glance around…yep, all the crew's here. Tali, Garrus, Wrex, Liara, Kaidan, Shepard and myself. "Good," the Commander nods. "Time to take care of business."
Hell to the yeah.
A/N: Well, that seems like a good place to leave it! Our intrepid heroes finally make it onto the Citadel…which means next up, the battle of the Citadel in all its glory! Or most of it, since I'll skip out some of the more boring fights, but you know. There will still be plentiful fighting and violence.
Well, a Prothean long-term plan. Intriguing. But, much like a double rainbow all the way across the sky, WHAT DOES IT MEAN? Well, you'll just have to wait and see. Wait for quite a while. It ain't called long term for nothing.
Also, next chapter will probably be time to face Saren as well. (Breathes deeply). I plan on it, anyway, even if takes more words than usual per chapter. So, you might have to wait a little while longer than usual…but it's gonna get epic. Most likely three chapters until the end of this part of the saga…but what an ending it shall be.
Well, hopefully. I mean, obviously I would say that. I'm the writer. I'm not just gonna say 'lol, the ending's shit'. But seriously, it'll be good.
Past 900 reviews! (Throws confetti everywhere). Very awesome. The amount of feedback remains unbelievable, as does the sheer number of you coming here to read. I know I say it a lot, hahaha, but thanks. Really. Thank you personally.
Until next chapter…bye!